Fourth of July Recap

Well, the Fourth of July has come and gone, and we Rowes enjoyed the town's festivities once again.  On the evening of the 3rd we went to see the town fireworks, spectating from a less crowded location than the main town field.  We still had a decent view of the show; however, Madeleine, who has been a fireworks enthusiast over the past few summers, was quite the critic this July.  Her main complaint was the use of color; or, I should say, a specific combination of colors.  Every time a firework that was red and green exploded, Madeleine would shout reprovingly, "It's! NOT! CHRISTMAS!"  That's right.  Green and red are EXCLUSIVELY patented for Christmas use only.  None of this Fourth of July red and green nonsense.

                                                             Unacceptable fireworks.


Let me point out that this is the kid who STILL whispers "Sparklies yay!" to herself when we drive by houses that have anything festive of ANY KIND on them.  As in:

MADELEINE: (to herself) Sparklies yay!
ME: Madeleine, are you seriously saying "Sparklies yay" about the houses we're driving by?
MADELEINE: (self-consciously smiling) Yeeeahhh...
ME: But there are no Christmas lights anywhere.  It's July.
MADELEINE: But I *liked* their decorations!

So I don't really get it.  If "sparklies yay" can be used to show admiration for completely non-Christmas related outside decor, why can't the fireworks be Christmas colors?  Shouldn't that elicit the greatest of ALL "Sparklies Yay"s?!?

On July 4th itself we went to see our town parade, and thankfully for Julia, there was no band of clowns this year!  Nothing at all to be scared of without clowns.  Musket shots being fired?  No worries.  Fire engine sirens blasting our ear drums out?  No biggie.  Clown band?  TERROR.

                                                               SCARY CLOWNS, 2015


 We enjoyed lots of different parade acts, from a steel drum band to African dancers to Chinese ribbons to an old-timey jazz ensemble:

The parade weather was HOT and the weekend has grown even hotter; that is, until some heavy thunderstorms hit this evening.  Julia and Madeleine were watching "Harry Potter" movie #3 when the storms started, and they only had to run upstairs in a panic two to three times during the movie.  You'd think they were scared of the Dementors or something from the film, but it was the thunder and lightning that sent them fleeing every time.  If only they could "Expecto Patronum!" the storm, all would be under control!

Hope you readers all had a happy and safe 4th and are enjoying the weekend!